Scott B.
Yelp
The first drive in movie theatre opened in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey on June 6th, 1932. Over the 82 intervening years they've been around, they had their grand hey-days, and their decline in interest. They have become mostly extinct nowadays. I remembered visiting one back in Shrewsbury Massachusetts in my younger days. Knowing I'd be out that-a-way, I planned a visit to close out an exciting day trip.
I arrived early, not really knowing what to expect. On their website, I'd read that they let cars into the theatre 30 minutes prior to the 1st movie. It was well before that and there was a big truck sitting in front of the entry booth already. I decided I needed munchies for the movie, so I located the nearest 7-11 on my GPS. It was less than a mile away in downtown Goleta. I took off, and was back before too long. I guess I was still pretty early, as there were now two cars 'in line' to be let in. I pulled up behind the second car, and took a nap.
I was awoken by movement ahead of me not too long afterwards. The 'theatre' was let in much earlier than I had read. It was let in over an hour before the first movie. I paid for my ticket (just $7.50!) and pulled into the lot, where I observed several rows of grooves and hills. Remembering how this should work, I drove down a groove, and pulled the front of my car up onto a hill, so my nose was up, pointed to the screen. I then turned on my radio, and found the correct radio station so that it paired up with the music blaring from the snack bar (96 point something). I then cracked open a cold soda, and opened a bag of chili-cheese hot dog potato chips and settled in for the movies.
The movies were great. High quality film, high quality sound, and I didn't have to hang that big clunky thing in the window. After Maleficent finished, I got out of the car, and took a walk over to the snack bar. If you sign up for their email club, you get a coupon for $1 Nachos. They had all the movie theatre classics, candies of all sorts, the bucket 'o popcorn (with refill!) and the giant cups of sodas that I could swim in. I pondered a bucket of popcorn in addition to my nachos, but decided after all the junk I'd been eating already, I'd cut my losses and just stick to the nachos. I held my coupon high and was presented with an order of nachos. A plastic tray, a handful of chips, and a tub 'o nacho cheese were handed to me in exchange for my dollar bill. Not exactly the stellar nachos my brain had conjured up. But hey, it was a dollar. I graciously accepted the inexpensive treat, and quickly ate them outside the snack bar. No way I was eating these in the car. After finishing, I washed my hands, and returned to my car.
After the second movie let out, It was 12:45, and I had a long drive back home. I was very tired, but I'm very glad I added this to my day trip. It was loads of fun, and it brought back a few memories. ...And I got to see the after-credits bit to tease the next X-men movie.
If you can't get out to Goleta, here is a website with a list of surviving drive-in movie theatres.
http://www.driveintheater.com/drivlist.htm
